North Korea: Let Hijacked Airplane Victims Reunite with Families

On December 11, 1969, a North Korean spy hijacked Korean Airlines flight YS-11 and redirected it to the North. When it landed in Hamheung, North Korea, the 46 passengers and four crew members were blindfolded, separated and investigated. Those who refused forced propaganda training were drugged or tortured.

The abductees’ families sought help from the international community, and two months later, North Korea returned 39 passengers to South Korea. But for reasons still unknown, North Korea never returned seven passengers and the four crew members.

It has been 42 years since the families in South Korea last saw the abducted family members, most of whom are now at a very advanced age. The families used all possible means domestically to resolve the issue within South and North Korea’s bilateral contacts, but with little success. The abductees’ families request assistance from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in investigating the fates of those remaining in the North and in facilitating a reunion with the aging relatives.

Remember that your signatures have the power to mobilize the United Nations. Please add yours to show the North Korean government that this issue, while decades old, has not expired, that North Korea cannot violate human rights without ramifications, and that the enforced silence of the abductees does not mean others will not speak in their stead.

We the undersigned wish to express our deep concern about the condition of people who have been abducted to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, North Korea) and urge you to address the following issue as a matter of high priority.

On December 11, 1969, a North Korean spy hijacked Korean Air flight YS-11 and redirected it to the North. When it landed in Hamheung, North Korea, the 46 passengers and four crew members were blindfolded, separated and investigated. Those who refused forced propaganda training were drugged or tortured.

The abductees’ families sought help from the international community, and two months later, as a result of mounting pressure, North Korea returned 39 passengers to South Korea through Panmunjom in the DMZ. But for reasons still unknown, North Korea never returned seven passengers and the four crew members.

Though the United Nations condemned the hijacking in 1970, the North gave no information concerning the health or life statuses of the 11 abductees, except for one flight attendant who was allowed to meet her relatives during a highly publicized, large-scale reunion for separated families.

In 2010, a South Korean NGO, Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights, submitted petitions to the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) to request the life statuses of the abductees. However, there has been no further news from the North Korean Government.

It has been 42 years since the families in South Korea last saw the abducted family members, most of whom are at a very advanced age. The families used all possible means domestically to resolve the issue through South and North Korea’s bilateral contacts, but with little success. The abductees’ families request OHCHR’s assistance in raising and maintaining international pressure on North Korea.

We appeal to you to use your mandate to:- Raise this issue with the North Korean government;- Investigate the fate of those remaining in the North; and - Urge North Korea to allow for abductees’ families reunion under the supervision of the United Nations.----------------